The record went into stores
on April 27. This is the Backsliders' second full-length release with Mammoth
Records.The record, produces
primarily by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (save "Abe Lincoln" which was produced
by Don Dixon),presents eleven tracks
featuring the live-show favorites "Abe Lincoln" and "Forever Came Today."
The record alsofeatures some excellent
CD-ROM content showcasing live footage as well as the video for "My Baby's
Gone."

When
he's not on the road, Chip Robinson lives in the back comer of the All-Star
Trailer Park outside Raleigh, North Carolina. On race day, you can hear
the whine of stock car: from Wake Motor Speedway across the county road.
Chip': tmiler is the one with a big boat in the driveway.

It's
big on the inside, plenty of room for record: and guitars. The kitchen
serves strong black coffee. A road case, perhaps for a key board, serves
as a coffee table. The stereo amplifier hisses in the background, unaccustomed
to silence.

Robinson
grew up bouncing back and forth between Greensboro, North Carolina and
Clarksville, Virginia. He got his first guitar when he was eight and breezed
through a series of teachers reluctant to teach him rock and roll songs
straight out. He learned enough to be dangerous and started haphazardly
writing songs at 13. He sang in a junior high cover band and did versions
of Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "American Woman" that still make him blush.

"Then
one of the kids had an AlIman Brothers breakthrough on the guitar, and
we went off in that direction for awhile." It was in Greensboro, while
in high school, that Robinson began keeping company with the Cason brothers,
Terry and Gene. "We would get together in Jerry Hill's tobacco barn. We'd
carry on, butchering bluegrass all night long. Gene used to tune his cheap
electric guitar to a banjo tuning. We had a lot of fun, just playing, goofing
off."

After
high school, Robinson served in the Navy for six years, where he played
punk rock in ship-board bands, and started performing his own songs in
sundry bars and cantinas around the world. "I played at eight o'clock in
the morning in a bar in Tijuana and one late at night in the Philippines
to five people. Anywhere I could. Everywhere."

Robinson
returned to North Carolina after the service and committed himself to life
as a singer/song writer. He kicked around, performing solo in honky-tonks
and at open mic nights for years. He survived on odd-jobs and his Navy-learned
electronics skills.

In
1991, Robinson teamed up with Steve Howell to form The Backslider:. Howell
tempered Robinson's rough-neck edges with a more traditional country musicianship.
They added bassist Danny Kurtz, drummer Jeff Dennis and local guitar great,
Brad Rice. The result was a raucous hybrid of catchy,country
shuffle and raunchy hog-calling honky tonk The band's live show became
the stuff of legend, winning fans from both the country and rock sides
of the tracks. The band was quickly signed to Mammoth.

On
Mammoth, The Backsliders released From Ralcigh, NC, a six song live introduction
recorded at the Brewery, a hometown haunt with beer-stained plywood floors
and neon sigus. Later that year, the full-length debut Throwin' Rocks at
the Moon, produced by Dwight Yoakain's guitaristiproducer PeteAnderson,
received acclaim from The Gavin Report as "the real deal" in alternative
country. USA Today named it a Best Bet and MOJO gushed that they had delivered
"the best country record of the year." The album rose to #1 on the Americana
radio chart and The Backslider: were off and running,

playing
successful shows from one coast to the other with everyone from Junior
Brown and Jason and the Scorchers to Widespread Panic and Whiskeytown.
Their video for "My Baby's Gone" soon went into rotation at CMT, further
establishing them as a goodtime band who threw down hard.

Fans
of The Backslider: saw an energetic and riveting live band that had a great
diversity of material -the more rocking numbers coming from Chip and the
country-shuffle ballads eminating from Steve. Backstage, however, this
diversity was tearing the band apart. Van rides were quiet, spirits were
lowand
tensions ran high. Shortly after heading to Maurice, Louisiana to record
the new album with Eric Ambel (The Bottlerockets, Blue Mountain, Nils Lofgren)
things came to a head. Steve left the band and the rest of the band drifted
away soon after, Rice and Kurtz going out on tour with Whiskeytown. Chip
found himself with an unfinished album, an empty van and lots of time on
his hands.

"That
was a tough time. But I had this sense of relief, too. I knew this is what
I want to do.It
wouldn't make sense to stop now. I got focused. I knew people would like
these songs if they got a chance to hear them." For Chip, time was not
only the healer of wounds, but a catalyst that afforded him a new perspective.
Robinson stepped up to finish the record and make sure the new songs got
ouL

Don
Dixon (REM, Smithereens) came in to add his touches to a few of the harder
rocking tracks and Robinson began to rebuild the band. Brad Rice returned
to the fold to finish the record. The final product yielded what Chip had
always wanted-an organic, harder-rocking album of more mature, whole-hearted
songs. The sound was still big and bluesy, and the songs were still about
living badly and love gone wrong, but the mood was more crafted and adult.

"A
lot of people really liked that live record. They said that (Tkrowin' Rocka
at the Moon) was a little careful for their tastes. This new record came
out a little more raw sounding. I think it's better that way."

The
musical terrain on Southern Lines is a gothic southern landscape filled
with lonely hearts, criss-crossed with railroad tracks tempting escape.
Robinson adds some intimate, lonely numbers, and Howell's country-pop offerings
are still present. Southern Lines is an honest union, full of conflict
and a sense of loss, ever hopeful for redemption.

It's
a difficult record to pigeonhole. There's material that reminds one of
Nebraska-era Springsteen, there are Neil Young moments and there's Jerry
Jeff Walker and Gram Parsons oozing out of every note. Peter Holsapple
(db'sIREM) provides an eerie accordion chill to the album's final track,
Tom Brumley (Buck Owens and the Buckaroos) adds a stamp of pedal steel
authenticity on "The Lonely One" and Joe Terry (The SkeletonsiDave Alvin)
fills out the sound on the bulk of the songs on Hammond B-3 and piano.

Robinson's
songs could be about you. They spark recollections and regrets and proclaim
a faith that ultimately outlasts everything.

"I
take things I overhear, things I see, things I read. Then sometimes it
comes all at once, or I work hard on it for a long time. It just depends."

"I
got the first line for (first single) "Abe Lincoln" from a friend of mine.
He said it about this guy and it was funny and dead on. It was strange
but true, so I kept that. Then I found the image of the bloodstain, something
that takes a long time to fade. Eventually you get a song.

"'Angelita'
is a fever dream based on a lot of composites, different people, ideas,
things I saw when I was staving in New YorL There's lots of trains in that
one. Windows rattling. I use an old North Carolina ghost story about the
stamping ground tree where the Devil does his nightly dance."

"'Two
Candles' was written after an early morning phone call from a friend trying
to mend fences with his cx. He was trying so hard and it just wasn't working
ouL He told me about some stuff that went on one particular night, and
I wrote that song the next day."

"There
is a conflict in these songs. I mean life is beautiful, but it's hard on
everybody too."

Robinson
looks like one of his rank drifters casting glances~for the nearest set
of railroad tracks when he talks about the revamped Backsliders. In addition
to Rice on guitar, Terry Anderson is playing drums, Roger Gupton joins
in on bass with Rob Farris on keyboards. Discussing the future makes Robinson
lustful and feisty.

"I
can't wait to get out on the road with this stuff" says Robinson, killing
his coffee. "Right after Steve left the band, we played a big show in Atlanta.
It turned out to be great and it was on with the show! We're planning on
touring a lot for this record, and I'm glad. I need to play."

Robinson
looks out the window at the rolling grey clouds. The pine tops sway as
a warm wind blows through the Trailer Park. The neighbors are coming home
and lights twinkle up and down Monk Lane.

The
phone rings. It's Robinson's girlfriend calling to say her truck is fixed.
She'll be over soon too see him. Robinson lights up at the news.